Melinda Erickson

Adjunct Associate Professor

+1 763 783 3231

Education

University of Minnesota	Water Resources Science	Doctor of Philosophy
University of Minnesota	Civil Engineering	Master of Science
University of Minnesota	Geological Engineering	Bachelor of Geo-Engineering

Affiliated Graduate Programs

Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering

Land and Atmospheric Science

Water Resources Science

Introduction

As an affiliated professor, I am currently a Hydrologist in the Twin Cities at US Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Water Science Center. I am the team leader and principal investigator for the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program's work in the Glacial Principal Aquifer System. I have been working in the hydrogeology field since 1993, starting first in environmental consulting and then moving into groundwater-related research in 1998. I was a research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, before moving to the federal government with USGS in 2009. My favorite research topic is occurrence and mobilization of arsenic in natural groundwater systems. Developing models for the behavior of arsenic in the natural environment is elusive due to its complex associations with other metals and minerals, and the interplay of redox, pH, biogeochemistry, and hydrogeology. Even after 20 years of arsenic research, I continue to be fascinated.

Research Area(s)

Biogeochemistry

Contaminant Hydrology and Water Quality

Research

Primary research interests: geochemistry, fate, and transport of metals (e.g. arsenic, iron, manganese) and organic chemicals (e.g. petroleum fuels, endocrine active chemicals, and pharmaceuticals) in groundwater systems in glacial aquifers.

Select Publications

Erickson, ML, Malenda, HF, Berquist, EC. 2018. How or when samples are collected affects measured arsenic concentration in new drinking water wells. Groundwater, in press. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwat.12643/full
Krall, AL, Elliott, SM, Erickson, ML, Adams, BA, 2018, Detecting sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine in groundwater: Is ELISA a reliable screening tool? Environmental Pollution, 234, 420-428, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.065
Nicholas, S, Erickson, ML, Woodruff, LG, Knaeble, AR, Marcus, MA, Lynch, JK, and Toner, BM. 2017. Solid -phase arsenic speciation in aquifer sediments: a micro-X-ray absorption spectroscopy approach for quantifying trace-level speciation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta., 211, pp 228-255, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.05.018
Bekins, B. A., Cozzarelli, I. M., Erickson, M. L., Steenson, R. A. and Thorn, K. A. (2016), Crude Oil Metabolites in Groundwater at Two Spill Sites. Groundwater. 54(5), pp681-691, doi: 10.1111/gwat.12419
Cozzarelli, I. M., Schreiber, M. E., Erickson, M. L. and Ziegler, B. A. (2016), Arsenic Cycling in Hydrocarbon Plumes: Secondary Effects of Natural Attenuation. Groundwater. 54(1), pp 35-45. doi: 10.1111/gwat.12316
Erickson, M.L., Langer, S.K., Roth, J.L., and Kroening, S.E., 2014, Contaminants of emerging concern in ambient groundwater in urbanized areas of Minnesota, 2009–12 (ver. 1.2, September 2014): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5096, 38 p., with appendix, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20145096.
Erickson, Melinda L. and Barnes, Randal J, 2005. Well characteristics influencing arsenic concentrations in groundwater, Water research, Volume 39, Issue 16, Pages 4029-4039, doi:10.1016/j.watres.2005.07.026 and Erickson, Melinda L., 2005, Erratum to: Erickson, ML, Barnes, RJ, October 2005. Well characteristics influencing arsenic concentrations in ground water. Water Res. 39 (16) 4029–4039. Water Research, Volume 39, Issue 20, Pages 5277-5278
Erickson, Melinda L. and Barnes, Randal J., 2005, Glacial Sediment Causing Regional-Scale Elevated Arsenic in Drinking Water, Groundwater, Volume 43, Issue 6, pages 796–805, DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2005.00053.x
Erickson, Melinda Leigh, 2005, Arsenic in upper Midwest ground water: occurrence and geochemical mobilization mechanisms, PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota.
Minnesota Department of Health (Messing R., R. Soule, J. Small-Johnson, D. Durkin, M. Salisbury (née Erickson), L. Souther, J. Connett, B. Baker). December 2001. The Minnesota Arsenic Study (MARS): Final Report to ATSDR.